I was doing some domain name speculating on China when it occurred to me that the fine wine market over there must be booming. Someone who lived in China for years and both imported and sold wine at the retail level had this to say.

Anything we can do to bring our clients closer to the wines they love should be a no-brainer. Whether you're a serious wine enthusiast, planning on hosting an event with many guests, or simply want to augment your wine collection, you're about to discover how to buy more of the fine wines you love, for less.

To thank everybody for a great year we have a limited-time offer for you, our valued Wine Menu clients and friends. We have recently acquired a staggering collection of rare and fine wines (just look through the list) that we've decided to make available to our Wine Menu clients only for the next three days. What that means for our members is this: For the next 72 hours you can obtain all the rare, vintage and highly-rated wines you want at average savings of $20-$70 PER BOTTLE.

How do you make an average product into a rarified beaut? Take a hint from reality TV: You give it a visual makeover. As an artist and designer, I get the impression that wine packaging, art & design could be among the next major value innovations to occur in the wine business next year.

Interesting to note that manufactured diamonds are equally as sparkly as real Flawless/VVS1/VVS Diamonds and they can be purchased for 100th the cost. Why wouldn't someone pay less for a manufactured diamond that is the real thing's equal in every way? It's a question of identity.

Real Diamonds are for those consumers, wealthy or not, that refuse to own a fake, I am one of them. A fake Rolex, a fake 1968 Cobra kit, fake purses, fake jackets, fake furs, fake eye color. There are thousands of nock off fakes out there and the diamond thing isn’t a new one and it certainly will not destroy De Beers just as the CZ diamond invention has not.

It is alright with me that there are consumers that buy fake as long as they admit it when found out and not deny it. The danger in owning a fake anything is once you are known to buy knock-offs or fakes then people will naturally be suspicious of everything you own. Perhaps it says much about ones personality. What is fake but something masqueraded around as something else. This sounds like a good topic for a Doctoral Thesis.

I agree that trading up to higher quality wines yields decreasing returns in satisfaction the higher you go up. Over at WineMenu.net we're pretty sure that the biggest payoff of drinking expensive wines isn't the flavor of the wine itself, but the emotional flavor of the experience or occasion surrounding consumption.

Opening up an expensive bottle of wine in public, with friends or to commemorate a special occasion is like taking the Ferrari out for a special night in town. The actual materials that go into the making of the vehicle might be only marginally better than a low-market vehicle. But material improvements aren't what the luxury car buyer (in general) really wants. He's going for the WOW factor, and the respect and admiration of his friends.

It was in 1976 when this adventure took place.
In planning this backpacking trip we decided to go first cabin. My friend and roommate Russ Thompson, his dog Seagram, and Big Red and I were living in Albuquerque then and loved to go on backpacking trips in the New Mexico and Colorado wilderness.